Assembly gets the new year off to a flyer

WHEN The Columbo Group took over the Barfly last year and transformed it into Camden Assembly, head of music Andy Peyton stated the new owners’ intention to shake off the venue’s old Camden indie persona.

The motivation, he said, was to attract all those diverse new bands that didn’t want to be pigeonholed. Now, just over a year after it opened, Camden Assembly has well and truly shaken that particular part of the borough’s legendary music history in place of a reputation of its own for booking groundbreaking new acts across a number of genres.

True to form, it has enlisted a bunch of carefully selected curators to spice up the usually dreary month of January with Spotlight – a series of free gigs showcasing promising new talent as 2018 begins to dawn.

“As Camden Assembly is at the forefront of new music, not only in London but in the UK, we felt it was important that we push forward a branded series of showcases to both highlight and reiterate our focus on new music,” said James Anniballi, the venue’s promotions manager.

Shiners will be part of Spotlight on January 10

“I decided to make the series as it has been a passion project of mine since I started promoting live shows eight years ago. We picked January as it’s not normally a time where bands tour much so we knew the bands would be available. The hope for Spotlight is that it becomes a stepping stone for bands to go on to great things.”

James added: “We invited a select bunch of curators who we knew would add to the series as they share the same goals for the acts as we do.”

Hot acts to look out for, said James, include Nia Wyn, who returns with her new single Do You Love Enough from her debut EP of the same name, with special guest Karima Francis, Beach Riot, The Luka State, Tiana Major, BBC Radio 1 extra curator DJ ACE and The Wholls.